Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Given New $70.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $82.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the software maker’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price suggests a potential upside of 18.89% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FTNT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Fortinet from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Fortinet from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.68.

Fortinet Trading Down 9.7 %

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $58.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.92. Fortinet has a one year low of $44.12 and a one year high of $81.24.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 5,061.85% and a net margin of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total value of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,625,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,471,825,357. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $1,593,300.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at $700,705,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total value of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,625,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,471,825,357. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock valued at $8,021,556 in the last quarter. 17.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cito Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet during the third quarter valued at approximately $660,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 507,306 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,693,000 after acquiring an additional 34,582 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 2,092.4% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 40,603 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after acquiring an additional 38,751 shares during the period. Alamar Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alamar Capital Management LLC now owns 63,788 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,743,000 after acquiring an additional 7,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,487,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products.